diff --git a/packet-manager.go b/packet-manager.go
index c53ed56..d47713b 100644
--- a/packet-manager.go
+++ b/packet-manager.go
@@ -105,33 +105,32 @@
 func (s *packetManager) workerChan(runWorker func(chan orderedRequest),
 ) chan orderedRequest {
 
+	// multiple workers for faster read/writes
 	rwChan := make(chan orderedRequest, SftpServerWorkerCount)
 	for i := 0; i < SftpServerWorkerCount; i++ {
 		runWorker(rwChan)
 	}
 
+	// single worker to enforce sequential processing of everything else
 	cmdChan := make(chan orderedRequest)
 	runWorker(cmdChan)
 
 	pktChan := make(chan orderedRequest, SftpServerWorkerCount)
 	go func() {
-		// start with cmdChan
-		curChan := cmdChan
 		for pkt := range pktChan {
-			// on file open packet, switch to rwChan
 			switch pkt.requestPacket.(type) {
-			case *sshFxpOpenPacket:
-				curChan = rwChan
-			// on file close packet, switch back to cmdChan
-			// after waiting for any reads/writes to finish
+			case *sshFxpReadPacket, *sshFxpWritePacket:
+				s.incomingPacket(pkt)
+				rwChan <- pkt
+				continue
 			case *sshFxpClosePacket:
-				// wait for rwChan to finish
+				// wait for reads/writes to finish when file is closed
+				// incomingPacket() call must occur after this
 				s.working.Wait()
-				// stop using rwChan
-				curChan = cmdChan
 			}
 			s.incomingPacket(pkt)
-			curChan <- pkt
+			// all non-RW use sequential cmdChan
+			cmdChan <- pkt
 		}
 		close(rwChan)
 		close(cmdChan)
diff --git a/server_test.go b/server_test.go
index 49e26b7..5568347 100644
--- a/server_test.go
+++ b/server_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import (
 	"io"
 	"os"
+	"path"
 	"regexp"
 	"sync"
 	"syscall"
@@ -278,3 +279,51 @@
 		assert.Equal(t, tc.pkt, statusFromError(tc.pkt, tc.err))
 	}
 }
+
+// This was written to test a race b/w open immediately followed by a stat.
+// Previous to this the Open would trigger the use of a worker pool, then the
+// stat packet would come in an hit the pool and return faster than the open
+// (returning a file-not-found error).
+// The below by itself wouldn't trigger the race however, I needed to add a
+// small sleep in the openpacket code to trigger the issue. I wanted to add a
+// way to inject that in the code but right now there is no good place for it.
+// I'm thinking after I convert the server into a request-server backend I
+// might be able to do something with the runWorker method passed into the
+// packet manager. But with the 2 implementations fo the server it just doesn't
+// fit well right now.
+func TestOpenStatRace(t *testing.T) {
+	client, server := clientServerPair(t)
+	defer client.Close()
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	// openpacket finishes to fast to trigger race in tests
+	// need to add a small sleep on server to openpackets somehow
+	tmppath := path.Join(os.TempDir(), "stat_race")
+	pflags := flags(os.O_RDWR | os.O_CREATE | os.O_TRUNC)
+	ch := make(chan result, 3)
+	id1 := client.nextID()
+	client.dispatchRequest(ch, sshFxpOpenPacket{
+		ID:     id1,
+		Path:   tmppath,
+		Pflags: pflags,
+	})
+	id2 := client.nextID()
+	client.dispatchRequest(ch, sshFxpLstatPacket{
+		ID:   id2,
+		Path: tmppath,
+	})
+	testreply := func(id uint32, ch chan result) {
+		r := <-ch
+		switch r.typ {
+		case ssh_FXP_ATTRS, ssh_FXP_HANDLE: // ignore
+		case ssh_FXP_STATUS:
+			err := normaliseError(unmarshalStatus(id, r.data))
+			assert.NoError(t, err, "race hit, stat before open")
+		default:
+			assert.Fail(t, "Unexpected type")
+		}
+	}
+	testreply(id1, ch)
+	testreply(id2, ch)
+	os.Remove(tmppath)
+}